novelaction Chapter 131: The Ghost
Chapter 131: The Ghost
Chapter 131: The Traitor
Big Yellow finally stopped in front of a cabinet. She gestured for someone to open the cabinet and take out the things inside.
The cabinet was opened, revealing miscellaneous items and a few spices inside. The spices were stored in bamboo tubes, and the moment the lids were opened, one's spirits lifted.
Ji Meiqing was also startled and quickly removed the object, while recalling everything she had just seen.
"Has any of you left anything here?" Ji Meiqing asked in a cold voice, her gaze sweeping over each of them with a chilling intensity.
Everyone is a suspect, but not everyone has the motive to do it. Before they confess, Ji Meiqing had already filtered out what she had just seen.
"Who among you has such a hard time answering this question after passing by this cabinet?" she asked again.
They all lowered their heads, and Ji Meiqing continued, "Since none of you are willing to admit it, then you should all leave."
Finally, she made some harsh words, and she refused to believe they wouldn't tell.
The few cooks hesitated for a moment before beginning to argue, "I didn't see it..."
"I didn't see it either..."
Several people said they hadn't seen it, and Ji Meiqing was getting a bit overwhelmed. She simply told them to hold out their hands and let Da Huang smell them one by one.
Finally, they stopped in front of a cook who claimed not to know. The cook was middle-aged, yet unusually calm; before being discovered, he had behaved quite well. But faced with the evidence, he changed.
"What do you have to say?" Ji Meiqing asked in return.
The man shook his head. "I'm out of luck this time."
“I won’t say anything if you put a sleeping potion in this soup, but why are you using methods from over a decade ago to deal with us?”
The feud was stirred up, and everyone around gathered around with great interest, eager to hear the gossip.
The origins of this are probably quite deep.
"Who is your boss?" she asked directly. The cook looked up at her, then looked down again.
Since he still hadn't revealed his name, Ji Meiqing continued, "If you don't tell me, how about I send you to the capital? I believe the officials there are certainly discerning and upright."
He shuddered and asked, "What if I told you? What benefits would I get?"
How about I let you stay for another day?
He suddenly felt it wasn't worth it, like he'd jumped into a pit. Ji Meiqing treated him a bit, then continued, "Would you be willing to have your family of three hanged from Chenglou tomorrow? What do you think?"
Under duress and enticement, the man had no choice but to agree to what Ji Meiqing said.
"It was the manager of Longfenglou who told me to do this."
"Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion?" she repeated, quickly searching her mind, and then found their location in the south of the city.
It was a restaurant, but for some reason, there was nothing that had offended him that would lead someone to do such a thing.
"So you arranged that death too?"
She looked at the man, her tone thoughtful.
"No, the owner of Longfenglou told me to just put the hallucinogenic drugs in."
"I understand, you can go back now." She was exhausted by all this, so she turned around and looked at the large group of people, and then had them escorted out.
The shopkeeper briefly explained the situation, simply stating that the cook had accidentally added something while preparing the dish.
"We are very sorry about what happened today. Our boss has decided to offer a 90% discount on today's meals, and we will have a doctor take a look at the injured guest."
That's how the matter was settled. Ji Meiqing had someone clean up the things on the table, and then she took the crazed man to another private room.
As soon as the door closed, all the sounds outside could be heard. Ji Meiqing turned around and immediately summoned a doctor.
"Let me see what's wrong with him!" Ji Meiqing pointed at him mercilessly.
The doctor walked over and smelled the scent on him. Ji Meiqing followed beside him and asked curiously, "How is it?"
"Inhaling some datura pollen can easily cause hallucinations."
He offered an explanation, then continued looking at the painting. Ji Meiqing had someone keep an eye on him, while she went outside and found the man directly.
Because her business almost went under, Ji Meiqing was filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so she resorted to violence against the person who had just delivered the money.
Once he had finally calmed down a bit, Ji Meiqing came over and grabbed his collar with a look of exasperation.
"Tell me why you would do such a thing with others. Is it because the payment I gave you wasn't enough? If it's not enough, or if there's something urgent, you should tell us!" Ji Meiqing said in one breath.
The chef across from me kept his head down, lost in thought, and it was unclear whether he had even listened to me.
"Alright, I won't say any more. Go collect your money and then go somewhere else." She waved and left. With things mostly settled, Ji Meiqing led her people over there.
As soon as they entered Longfeng Restaurant, a waiter came over to recommend dishes. Ji Meiqing casually walked to a table and sat down, looking at the bustling scene around her, and asked the waiter, "Do you have any signature dishes here?"
"There are plenty more, would you like some, young lady?"
Xiao Er immediately laughed, realizing he'd run into a big shot.
Ji Meiqing turned her attention back to the dishes, "I bet the dishes with datura you have here are quite delicious, right?"
"Miss, I don't understand what you mean." The waiter looked bewildered, probably not understanding what she meant either. Ji Meiqing slammed her hand on the table, the sound crisp and clear.
She blew on her palm, chuckled twice, and said apologetically, "Sorry, I got excited."
Despite her politeness, Ji Meiqing wouldn't let go of that matter and immediately sent someone to invite their manager over.
The matter had probably already been told to her by someone, so there was no need for him to repeat it. With that in mind, she decided to be direct and make her point clear.
"Our Haoyue Pavilion has just opened. You can come and have a taste if you have time. Don't worry, there won't be any datura flavor in it, and no one will mess with it."
She smiled, and seeing the man's expression suddenly change, she understood that Ji Meiqing had come to cause trouble.
But now it wasn't good to be cold, so his voice hardened, showing no mercy to Ji Meiqing, "I don't understand what you're talking about."
"It's alright." Ji Meiqing glanced at him.
He shook his head, his posture always exuding an air of superiority, making Ji Meiqing want to tear his face off.